Local Nigerians put schoolgirls' abduction in perspective

WORCESTER — Local Nigerians say they are angry and disappointed about the way the Nigerian government has handled the abduction of some 300 schoolgirls last month, but they are not surprised.

"Everyone obviously empathizes with the families and are troubled about the situation and troubled that the country is in disarray. But they're not surprised it has come to this point because of how inept and corrupt the government is," said Kola Akindele, a Nigerian and lawyer who lives in Worcester.

Ademola Akinan, a 33-year-old MBA student at Assumption College, said this is the first time he has been embarrassed to be Nigerian.

"I am proud to be Nigerian. But not now. Not because it's not a good country, but because of the response of the government toward this particular issue," said the married father of three young children, who works as a mutual fund trader for Bank of America.

On April 15, a group of fighters from the homegrown Islamist militant group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 300 teen girls from a dormitory at a school in the town of Chibok, in Nigeria's remote northeastern state of Borno. Reportedly about 50 of the girls escaped and two others died from snake bites.

The girls' abduction and President Goodluck Jonathan's refusal for weeks to accept help from the U.S. and other countries have caused outrage throughout the world, thanks in great part to Twitter and other social media networks. First Lady Michelle Obama and Hollywood celebrities have also joined the masses in urging that the world powers come together to find the girls.

Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday announced that a group of American officials and agents were headed to Nigeria to help with the search and to help counter the Islamist terror group. During a speech at the World Economic Forum on Africa held in Nigeria last week, he thanked outside countries for their help

A video recently released purportedly shows many of the girls dressed in Muslim garb and praying. The leader of the Islamist extremist sect has threatened to sell the girls into slavery or exchange them for the release of Boko Haram fighters who are being held as prisoners.

"I feel the pains of the families of these girls," said Olanike Ajayi, 26, a Nigerian who has lived in Worcester the past year and a half. "It is so unfortunate that the government of Nigeria has not given them much hope about the possibility of a successful rescue mission. Nonetheless, with the help of other countries coupled with the efforts of the government of Nigeria, I believe the girls can be rescued and brought back home to their parents."

Like Ms. Ajayi, most of the estimated 200 Nigerians living in Worcester are from the southern part of the West African nation, which is predominantly Christian. Muslims live mostly in the country's remote northern region. The south, the home of President Jonathan, is also considered the country's economic powerhouse because of its lucrative oil production.

Emanuel E. Nneji, an associate professor of communications at Worcester State University, said the abduction and other problems in his native land centers around the age-old strife between Muslims and Christians. Most of the Muslims in the north did not have an opportunity to get an education, whereas the people in the south did because that's where the British settled.

Mr. Nneji said after the country got its independence from Great Britain in 1960, most of the governing and corporate positions went to the educated Nigerians from the south.

"That was the beginning of all the problems in Nigeria, because the people from the northern part, predominantly Muslims, couldn't fit in, and they felt the people from the south were taking over the country," he explained.

Many of the people from the north joined the military, which carried out several back-to-back military coups in 1966. Those led to the people of the south declaring a civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970. The country in the end remained together, but the Muslims continued to burn churches and kill Christians, Mr. Nneji said.

Around 2000, a new constitution was drawn up for a rotational presidency to alleviate some of the crisis in the country.

The problem exploded after the last Muslim president, Umaru Yar'Adua, died in May 2010, during his first term, and Mr. Jonathan, a Christian, who was the vice president took over as president. Mr. Nneji said Muslims felt that another Muslim should have finished out the term of the president who died. It was around this time that the small group of Islamist militants stepped up their presence. The word Boko Haram means Western or non-Islamic education is a sin.

After Mr. Jonathan completed the unfinished term of his predecessor, he was elected president in April 2011. He promised Nigerians that he would step down after this term, but he has since announced that he is running for re-election in 2015.

"Muslims supported him and expected him to step down, but he wants to stay in power," Mr. Nneji said. "If he had said, 'I understand the north, this is their turn,' I'm 100 percent sure we wouldn't be having this problem."

The Islamist militants attacked Christians and their churches before, but they were not involved in kidnappings. Mr. Nneji suspects they have connected with more extreme al-Qaeda groups in Yemen and other places.

"They don't normally kill their own people, but those kids they kidnapped are Muslim kids," said Mr. Nneji. "They've learned from groups like al-Qaeda that don't care who they kill.

"They're trying to start a war in Nigeria. It's been building piecemeal," he continued. "They didn't see a need to start a serious crisis. But now they have a Christian president and they're trying to find a way to make it ungovernable for the guy."

Contact Elaine Thompson at ethompson@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @EThompsonTG

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